Concepts of Terrorism

Total Page:16

File Type:pdf, Size:1020Kb

Concepts of Terrorism Concepts of Terrorism Analysis of the rise, decline, trends and risk December, 2008 Deliverable 5, Workpackage 3 1 TABLE OF CONTENTS Introduction........................................................................................................................ 4 PART A. .................................................................................................................................. 5 1. TERRORISM RISE AND FALL: ROOT AND TRIGGER CAUSES AND CAUSES FOR DECLINE ............................................................................................................ 5 1.1 Scholarly Research Overview....................................................................................................... 6 General Qualitative Analyses of Causes of Terrorism ............................................................ 7 Psychological Research on Causes of Terrorism....................................................................... 9 Empirical Analyses of Causes of Terrorism............................................................................... 10 1.2 Theoretical Framework................................................................................................................. 11 Approaches to Terrorism Analysis................................................................................................ 13 1.3 List of Root and Trigger Causes of Terrorism ...................................................................... 15 Root Causes.......................................................................................................................................... 15 Trigger Causes..................................................................................................................................... 18 1.4 Most Relevant Root and Trigger Causes................................................................................ 19 1.5 Concluding Remarks...................................................................................................................... 19 2. DECLINE IN TERRORISM: LESSONS FROM THE PAST.................................. 21 2.1 Comparative Literature on Decline and Demise ................................................................. 22 Qualitative Explanations of Decline or Demise of Terrorism.............................................. 22 2.2 Empirical Studies of the Decline and Demise of terrorism ............................................. 28 North America...................................................................................................................................... 28 The Middle East................................................................................................................................... 30 Central and South America............................................................................................................. 33 Europe..................................................................................................................................................... 35 2.3 Challenges in Drawing on Lessons from the Past .............................................................. 40 Defining Decline .................................................................................................................................. 40 Bringing About Decline..................................................................................................................... 42 Differences Between Countries ..................................................................................................... 43 Countering Terrorism........................................................................................................................ 43 2.4 List with most often mentioned factors in decline and demise..................................... 45 Factors of decline for terrorist organizations: ......................................................................... 45 Possible government measures to influence decline of terrorism ................................... 46 2.5 Concluding Remarks...................................................................................................................... 47 3. Linking Root and Trigger Causes and Causes for Decline......................... 49 PART B. ................................................................................................................................55 1. Trends in Terrorism ......................................................................................................... 55 1.1 Demarcations ................................................................................................................................... 55 1.2 Trend analysis.................................................................................................................................. 57 1.3 Four Waves of Modern Terrorism ............................................................................................. 58 Additions/Enhancements of Theory............................................................................................. 62 Adjusted Waves .................................................................................................................................. 62 Primary System-Contextual Factors Undergirding Terrorism Evolution........................ 64 Wave Dynamics................................................................................................................................... 66 1.4 Data Analysis.................................................................................................................................... 67 1.5 The Fourth Wave ............................................................................................................................ 70 Characteristics of the Fourth Wave ............................................................................................. 72 Fourth Wave Dynamics .................................................................................................................... 74 Two Types of Religious Terrorism ................................................................................................ 77 2. The Risk Terrorism Poses............................................................................................. 79 2 2.1 Quantifying the Risk of Terrorism ............................................................................................ 80 Indicators of Terrorist Groups’ Intentions................................................................................. 82 Indicators of Terrorist Groups’ Capabilities .............................................................................. 83 2.2 Consequences of Terrorism ........................................................................................................ 84 2.3 Capabilities of Terrorist Organizations ................................................................................... 92 2.4 Intentions of Terrorists................................................................................................................. 97 3. Risk and Trends: Where To Go From Here?..................................................... 100 PART C. .............................................................................................................................. 107 1. CASE STUDIES................................................................................................................... 107 1.1 Ethno-nationalist and separatist terrorist groups ............................................................ 107 IRA ......................................................................................................................................................... 108 1.2 Left-wing terrorist groups ......................................................................................................... 126 RAF......................................................................................................................................................... 126 Red Brigades ...................................................................................................................................... 135 1.3 Right-wing terrorist groups....................................................................................................... 143 Fact sheets.......................................................................................................................................... 143 History .................................................................................................................................................. 145 Databases............................................................................................................................................ 148 1.4 Religious groups............................................................................................................................ 153 Hizb ut-Tahrir al Islami .................................................................................................................. 154 The Hofstadgroep ............................................................................................................................. 159 Part D.................................................................................................................................. 164 1. General Bibliography....................................................................................................
Recommended publications
  • 0714685003.Pdf
    CONTENTS Foreword xi Acknowledgements xiv Acronyms xviii Introduction 1 1 A terrorist attack in Italy 3 2 A scandal shocks Western Europe 15 3 The silence of NATO, CIA and MI6 25 4 The secret war in Great Britain 38 5 The secret war in the United States 51 6 The secret war in Italy 63 7 The secret war in France 84 8 The secret war in Spain 103 9 The secret war in Portugal 114 10 The secret war in Belgium 125 11 The secret war in the Netherlands 148 12 The secret war in Luxemburg 165 ix 13 The secret war in Denmark 168 14 The secret war in Norway 176 15 The secret war in Germany 189 16 The secret war in Greece 212 17 The secret war in Turkey 224 Conclusion 245 Chronology 250 Notes 259 Select bibliography 301 Index 303 x FOREWORD At the height of the Cold War there was effectively a front line in Europe. Winston Churchill once called it the Iron Curtain and said it ran from Szczecin on the Baltic Sea to Trieste on the Adriatic Sea. Both sides deployed military power along this line in the expectation of a major combat. The Western European powers created the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) precisely to fight that expected war but the strength they could marshal remained limited. The Soviet Union, and after the mid-1950s the Soviet Bloc, consistently had greater numbers of troops, tanks, planes, guns, and other equipment. This is not the place to pull apart analyses of the military balance, to dissect issues of quantitative versus qualitative, or rigid versus flexible tactics.
    [Show full text]
  • A Comparative Analysis of the Intractability of the Basque Conflict
    A COMPARATIVE ANALYSIS OF THE INTRACTABILITY OF THE BASQUE CONFLICT A Thesis submitted to the Faculty of The School of Continuing Studies and of The Graduate School of Arts and Sciences in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Arts in Liberal Studies By Graham M. Stubbs, B.A. Georgetown University Washington, D.C. April 2012 A COMPARATIVE ANALYSIS OF THE INTRACTABILITY OF THE BASQUE CONFLICT Graham M. Stubbs B.A. Joseph P. Smaldone Phd. ABSTRACT Since the regime of dictator General Franco (1939-1975), the Spanish government has repressed or banned virtually all expressions of the Basque national identity and political expression. This failure to recognize the Basque culture within Spanish society has created a void in which the Basques have felt self-confined for generations. The conflict between the Basques and Spain has never found clear resolution, has often been punctuated by armed resistance, and has become virtually intractable. Spanish nationalism has prevailed over the indigenous group in the region, leaving resentment and frustration for those seeking to practice their traditions and cultural distinctions. The Spanish blend of fascist, traditionalist, and militarist responses has reinforced the deep- felt resentment of the Basque people in their pursuit of the civil liberties granted to all other citizens of the Spanish state. The existence of the Basques has been problematic to the Spanish because cultural differences challenged Franco’s ideal of a unified Catholic state. Catholicism was the essence of the ‘nation’ and Castile was its ‘ethnic core,’ thus leaving little room for any opposing ideology and principles.
    [Show full text]
  • Between History, Myth, and the Present: an Asymmetric Transaction
    DEBATS · Annual Review, 3 · 2018 — 49 / 64 DOI: 10.28939/iam.debats-en.2018-5 ISSN 2530-898X (print) ISSN 2530-8262 (electronic) Between history, myth, and the present: an asymmetric transaction Jaime Pastor Verdú UNIVERSIDAD NACIONAL DE EDUCACIÓN A DISTANCIA (UNED) [email protected] Received: 27/07/2017 Accepted: 12/01/2018 ABSTRACT The period known as the Spanish political transition—whose duration is still subject to debate—has been interpreted in many ways, though the dominant and official narrative is the version that portrays it as ‘exemplary’. This paper critically reviews the process that led to the relative stabilisation of a new parliamentary monarchy together with its gradual integration into the European project. We highlight the context, uncertainties, and splitting crossroads that appeared in different periods of the transition. This paper upholds the idea that the transition was an asymmetric compromise that avoided a democratic rupture with Franco’s dictatorship and its legacy. We recognise the liberties and rights that were won, but likewise, we emphasise the costs entailed in this process. In particular, the transition had a high political cost in that it fostered an elitist political culture that, in spite of several waves of protests, was not challenged by a social majority until the emergence of the most recent surge of protest as an result of the 15 May 2011 movement. Since then, the unfolding crisis of the regime—which is related to the crisis also currently affecting the EU in the aftermath of the financial and real estate crisis of 2008—as well as the internal national–territorial division in Spain, has once again put the issue of the Spanish transition, and the possible need for a ‘second transition’ or new constituent processes, under the spotlight of debate.
    [Show full text]
  • Beyond Guernica and the Guggenheim
    Beyond Guernica and the Guggenheim Beyond Art and Politics from a Comparative Perspective a Comparative from Art and Politics Beyond Guernica and the Guggenheim This book brings together experts from different fields of study, including sociology, anthropology, art history Art and Politics from a Comparative Perspective and art criticism to share their research and direct experience on the topic of art and politics. How art and politics relate with each other can be studied from numerous perspectives and standpoints. The book is structured according to three main themes: Part 1, on Valuing Art, broadly concerns the question of who, how and what value is given to art, and how this may change over time and circumstance, depending on the social and political situation and motivation of different interest groups. Part 2, on Artistic Political Engagement, reflects on another dimension of art and politics, that of how artists may be intentionally engaged with politics, either via their social and political status and/or through the kind of art they produce and how they frame it in terms of meaning. Part 3, on Exhibitions and Curating, focuses on yet another aspect of the relationship between art and politics: what gets exhibited, why, how, and with what political significance or consequence. A main focus is on the politics of art in the Basque Country, complemented by case studies and reflections from other parts of the world, both in the past and today. This book is unique by gathering a rich variety of different viewpoints and experiences, with artists, curators, art historians, sociologists and anthropologists talking to each other with sometimes quite different epistemological bases and methodological approaches.
    [Show full text]
  • Democracies Debate Counterterrorism
    National Insecurity and Human Rights: Democracies Debate Counterterrorism Edited by Alison Brysk and Gershon Shafir Published in association with University of California Press Description: All too often, the first casualty of national insecurity is human rights. How can democracies cope with the threat of terror while protecting human rights? This timely volume compares the lessons of the United States and Israel with the “best-case scenarios” of the United Kingdom, Canada, Spain, and Germany. It demonstrates that threatened democracies have important options, and democratic governance, the rule of law, and international cooperation are crucial foundations for counterterror policy. Editors: Alison Brysk is Professor of Political Science and International Studies at the University of California, Irvine. Gershon Shafir is Professor of Sociology and Director of the Institute for International, Comparative, and Area Studies at the University of California, San Diego. Review: “One of the most acute and lucid analyses of the moral and institutional challenges posed for liberal democratic societies by mega-terrorism. Alison Brysk, Gershon Shafir, and a group of eminent scholars address, with practical understanding and moral insight, the question of how to prevent our reasonable fears for our safety from turning into a moral panic that is incompatible with the effective defense of human rights.” —Tom Farer, University of Denver, former President of the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights National Insecurity and Human Rights National Insecurity and Human Rights Democracies Debate Counterterrorism Edited by Alison Brysk and Gershon Shafir Global, Area, and International Archive University of California Press Berkeley Los Angeles London The Global, Area, and International Archive (GAIA) is an initiative of International and Area Studies, University of California, Berkeley, in partnership with the University of California Press, the California Digital Library, and international research programs across the UC system.
    [Show full text]
  • Linking Basque and European Generations for Global Transitional Justice
    The unique Basque peace process: Linking Basque and European generations for global transitional justice OÑATI SOCIO-LEGAL SERIES VOLUME 10, ISSUE 3 (2020), 584-615: PRACTICES OF MEMORIALIZATION AND THE PROCESS OF SOCIAL RECONSTRUCTION DOI LINK: HTTPS://DOI.ORG/10.35295/OSLS.IISL/0000-0000-0000-1123 RECEIVED 17 SEPTEMBER 2019, ACCEPTED 28 NOVEMBER 2019 JOXERRAMON BENGOETXEA∗ Abstract This paper considers the recent and unique case of transitional justice in the Basque Country. Its uniqueness, from a comparative perspective, lies in its unilateral character. It is mostly because of the pressure of Basque Society, together with the tough stance of the criminal justice system of Spain, that ETA dissolved. The analysis of this process discusses some issues of transitional justice, in tension with formal or traditional justice, and the relevance of this new field in Europe, Spain and the Basque Country. The paper spells out the most significant initiatives in the field of transitional justice adopted in the Basque case, stressing the importance of civil society, and the range of issues arising in a post-conflict situation where different agents have significantly different agendas. The paper concludes by suggesting steps towards an inclusive agenda on memory and narratives of the conflict capable of delivering truth and reconciliation. Key words Transitional justice; Basque peace process; unilateral measures; amnesty; memory politics; truth and reconciliation commissions The research leading to this paper has been done in the framework of the Research Group GI of the University of the Basque Country UPV/EHU IT1190-19 on the EU and Fundamental Rights (Unión Europea y Derechos Fundamentales), of the Spanish Ministry of Education’s Research Program DER 2015- 64599-P MINECO/FEDER UE Factores postdelictivos y peligrosidad postdelictual and of ehuGune program of the UPV/EHU.
    [Show full text]
  • Vox in the Mirror of the Spanish Radical Right the Consolidation of the Far-Right
    Vox in the Mirror of the Spanish Radical Right The Consolidation of the Far-Right Victoria Bech Herrero (6861032) Supervisor: Daniel Brett Master Thesis 2019/20 International Relations in Historical Perspective Words: 15.091 Table of Content Introduction ................................................................................................................................... 6 Academic Debates .................................................................................................................... 8 Theoretical Framework ........................................................................................................ 10 Methodology and Sources ..................................................................................................... 12 Election Data ....................................................................................................................... 12 Archival Research ............................................................................................................... 12 The Evolution of the Extreme Right .......................................................................................... 14 The Spanish Political System: A Small Overview .............................................................. 14 The End of Franco’s Regime ................................................................................................ 15 The Electoral Failure: Internal and External Reasons ......................................................... 16 The Growth of the Extreme
    [Show full text]
  • Historical Memory
    CUBIERTA MEMORIA HISTÓRICA INGLÉS.qxp_Cubierta Memoria histórica 16/6/21 19:35 Página 1 Since the fall of the Berlin Wall, Western progressi- vism has focused on cultural subversion and the anthropological revolution rather than the economic revolution. In this new era, the different versions of the historical interpretation constitute an added po- litical weapon. This is how “historical memory” has arisen, which seeks to reinterpret the past to domi- nate the present and reduce the complexity of his- tory to the dialectic of executioners versus victims. In Spain, the “historical memory” presents the 20th century and the early years of the 21st as a struggle between fascism and anti-fascism. The left not only wants to impose a mandatory interpreta- tion of history -with criminal and economic sanc- in Europe to Peace Threat a “Historical Memory”, tions for dissidents- but also to eradicate freedom of speech, and teaching. If such a strategy succeeds in Spain, the rest of the European left will copy it and the social confrontation already provoked between the Spanish people will spread to the rest of the continent. In this book, several historians analyze the main mythical slogans of the Spanish “memorialist” move- ment (the spontaneous nature of the violence against Catholics, the “slave” prisoners, the harshness of the post-war repression, the link between the “Historical Spanish regime and the III Reich, amnesty as a re- quirement of the Francoists, the pact of silence in the Transition, etc.) and dismantle them through Memory , data and facts. In addition, former minister of the ” first post-Franco democratic Government (1977- 1979), a writer imprisoned in the 1950s for his a Threat to Peace communist militancy, and another author descen- in Europe ded from an intellectual murdered in the genocide of Catholics perpretated by the left during the Civil War (1936-1939) share their testimonies in the pages of this book.
    [Show full text]
  • A Rational Choice Examination of Basque National Identity
    1 Changing Structures, Changing Identities: A Rational Choice Examination of Basque National Identity A dissertation presented by Alison Uzdella to The Department of Political Science In partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in the field of Political Science Northeastern University Boston, MA December 2014 2 Changing Structures, Changing Identities: A Rational Choice Examination of Basque National Identity by Alison Uzdella ABSTRACT OF DISSERTATION Submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in Political Science in the College of Social Sciences and Humanities of Northeastern University December, 2014 3 Abstract This study examines the impact of changes in political structures on the articulation of national identity by Basque elites in Spain. Rational choice variants of constructivist theories of identity suggest that elites create identities according to rational calculations, as they attempt to maintain or elevate their group’s status vis-à-vis other groups, as well as their own status within the in-group. Changes in the structures within which elites operate, however, will alter the available choices for the pursuit of goals and rearrange elite preferences. With the introduction of new opportunity structures in the political environment, nationalist elites can be expected to exploit these variables to their advantage. Using primary school textbooks, this investigation traces the articulation of Basque identity from the Franco regime through the democratic transition and Spain’s accession into the European Union in order to demonstrate the changes that have taken place over time. These changes correspond to structural breaks that resulted in an altered political environment.
    [Show full text]
  • Collective Memory and the 11M Bombing in Madrid, Spain
    COLLECTIVE MEMORY AND THE 11M BOMBING IN MADRID, SPAIN A thesis submitted to the faculty of San Francisco State University In partial fulfillment of the requirements for AS the Degree 3 < * 2o\(, Master of Arts In Anthropology by Emma Christina Fuentes San Francisco, California May 2016 Copyright by Emma Christina Fuentes 2016 >1 CERTIFICATION OF APPROVAL I certify that I have read Collective Memory and the 11-M Bombing in Madrid, Spain by Emma Christina Fuentes, and that in my opinion this work meets the criteria for approving a thesis submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirement for the degree Master of Arts in Anthropology at San Francisco State University. 'James Quesada, Ph.D Professor of Anthropology Lucia Volk, Ph.D Professor of International Relations COLLECTIVE MEMORY AND THE 11-M BOMBING IN MADRID, SPAIN Emma Christina Fuentes San Francisco, California 2016 This thesis examines the March 11, 2004 (“11-M”) train bombings in Madrid, Spain and the massive public protests and national elections that followed as a case study on how collective memory of a violent past shaped public responses to terrorism. I argue that in Spain, remembered experiences of the Civil War, the dictatorship of Francisco Franco, and violence inflicted by the terrorist group ETA, were deeply influential in determining behavior and reactions after the 11-M bombing and I examine some of the ways in which memories were communicated and shared publicly. I also examine lasting effects of the bombing: the construction of two memorials to the victims, as well as medical and psychological outcomes among citizens of Madrid.
    [Show full text]
  • Peace and Conflict: Europe and Beyond
    Cub Peace and Conflict 2 (10mm) 27/12/06 11:53 Página 1 Alexander I Gray and Ibrahim Al-Marashi (eds.) Peace and Conflict: Education and Culture Europe and Beyond Socrates Peace and Conflict Studies is an increasingly observed discipline, as researchers seek to investigate complex issues and to aid in the building of knowledge which can be used towards transforming conflict. Analyzing case studies from Europe and beyond, this edited On-going Research volume seeks to provide theoretical tools and alternative approaches for examining the root causes of violence, and to extrapolate possibilities for transcending peace through conflict transformation. The reader is presented with specific case studies from the Middle East, Thesis South Eastern Europe, the Mediterranean rim and South America. Thesis What differentiates this work is that more than just analyzing the conflicts, contributors offer either methodological or theoretical alternatives for their transformation. While not discarding the value of On-going Research traditional approaches to conflict resolution a new generation of peace On-going Research workers is emerging and proposing that a certain level of conflict is a natural and sometimes necessary aspect of human relations. There is a growing recognition that it would be almost impossible to rid society Dissertation of conflict altogether. A view that is gaining increasing currency is one which promotes the idea of conflict transformation. This approach and Beyond Peace and Conflict: Europe entails transforming levels of conflict
    [Show full text]
  • Table of Contents
    US Department of State Office of the Coordinator for Counterterrorism Country Reports on Terrorism 2004 April 2005 i Department of State Publication 11248 Office of the Coordinator for Counterterrorism Printed in Multi-Media Services Released April 2005 ii TABLE OF CONTENTS Chapter 1. Legislative Requirements and Key Terms ......................................................... 1 Chapter 2. Overview ........................................................................................................ 3 Chapter 3. Global Jihad: Evolving and Adapting .............................................................. 7 Chapter 4. Building International Will and Capacity to Counter Terrorism....................... 9 Antiterrorism Assistance Program................................................................... 9 Countering Terrorism on the Economic Front ................................................. 11 Multilateral and Regional Cooperation ........................................................... 12 Role of the United Nations in Fighting Terrorism............................................ 14 Chapter 5. Country Reports .............................................................................................. 28 Africa Overview ............................................................................................. 28 Djibouti ................................................................................................... 29 Ethiopia...................................................................................................
    [Show full text]